III 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 195 

Congratulating the students, parents, teachers, and leaders of charter schools 

across the United States for making ongoing contributions to education, 

and supporting the ideals and goals of the 24th annual National Charter 

Schools Week, to be held May 7 through May 13, 2023. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 4, 2023 

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. BENNET, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. 

LANKFORD, Mr. CARPER, Mr. RISCH, Mr. CORNYN, Mrs. BRITT, Mr. 

CASSIDY, Mr. HAGERTY, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. CRAPO, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, Mr. CRUZ, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. 

TUBERVILLE, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. WICKER, Mr. BRAUN, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. 

YOUNG, Mr. HICKENLOOPER, and Mr. BOOKER) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

RESOLUTION 

Congratulating the students, parents, teachers, and leaders 

of charter schools across the United States for making 

ongoing contributions to education, and supporting the 

ideals and goals of the 24th annual National Charter 

Schools Week, to be held May 7 through May 13, 2023. 

Whereas charter schools are public schools that do not charge 

tuition and enroll any student who wants to attend, often 

through a random lottery when the demand for enrollment is outmatched by the supply of available charter 

school seats; 


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•SRES 195 IS 

Whereas high-performing public charter schools deliver a 

high-quality public education and challenge all students 

to reach their potential for academic success; 

Whereas high-quality public charter schools promote innovation and excellence in public education; 

Whereas public charter schools throughout the United States 

can provide millions of families with diverse and innovative educational options for the children of those families; 

Whereas high-performing public charter schools and charter 

management organizations are increasing student 

achievement and attendance rates at institutions of higher education; 

Whereas public charter schools are authorized by a designated entity and— 

(1) respond to the needs of communities, families, 

and students in the United States; and 

(2) promote the principles of quality, accountability, 

choice, high-performance, and innovation; 

Whereas, in exchange for flexibility and autonomy, public 

charter schools are held accountable by the authorizers of 

the charter schools for improving student achievement 

and for sound and transparent financial and operational 

management; 

Whereas public charter schools are required to meet the student achievement accountability requirements under the 

Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) in the same manner as traditional 

public schools; 

Whereas public charter schools often set high expectations for 

students to ensure that the charter schools are of high 

quality and truly accountable to the public; 


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•SRES 195 IS 

Whereas 44 States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and 

Puerto Rico have public charter schools; 

Whereas, as of the 2020–2021 school year, more than 7,800 

public charter schools served approximately 3,700,000 

children; 

Whereas enrollment in public charter schools grew from 

400,000 students in 2001 to 3,700,000 students in 2020, 

a more than eightfold increase in 20 years; 

Whereas in the United States— 

(1) in 261 school districts, more than 10 percent of 

public school students are enrolled in public charter 

schools; and 

(2) in at least 22 school districts, at least 30 percent 

of public school students are enrolled in public charter 

schools; 

Whereas high-quality public charter schools improve the 

achievement of students enrolled in the charter schools 

and collaborate with traditional public schools to improve 

public education for all students; 

Whereas public charter schools— 

(1) give parents the freedom to choose public 

schools; 

(2) routinely measure parental satisfaction levels; 

and 

(3) must prove the ongoing success of the charter 

schools to parents, policymakers, and the communities 

served by the charter schools or risk closure; 

Whereas a 2015 report from the Center for Research on 

Education Outcomes at Stanford University found significant improvements for students at urban charter 

schools, and, when compared to peers in traditional pubVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR195.IS SR195

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•SRES 195 IS 

lic schools, each year those students completed the equivalent of 28 more days of learning in reading and 40 more 

days of learning in math; 

Whereas parental demand for charter schools is high, and 

there was nearly 5 percent growth in charter school enrollment between the 2017–2018 and 2018–2019 school 

years; and 

Whereas the 24th annual National Charter Schools Week is 

scheduled to be celebrated the week of May 7 through 

May 13, 2023: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) congratulates the students, families, teach3 ers, leaders, and staff of public charter schools 

4 across the United States for— 

5 (A) making ongoing contributions to public 

6 education; 

7 (B) making important strides in closing 

8 the academic achievement gap in schools in the 

9 United States, particularly in schools with some 

10 of the most disadvantaged students in both 

11 rural and urban communities; and 

12 (C) strengthening the public school system 

13 throughout the United States; 

14 (2) supports the ideals and goals of the 24th 

15 annual National Charter Schools Week, a week-long 

16 celebration to be held May 7 through May 13, 2023, 

17 in communities throughout the United States; and 


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•SRES 195 IS 

1 (3) encourages the people of the United States 

2 to hold appropriate programs, ceremonies, and ac3 tivities during National Charter Schools Week to 

4 demonstrate support for high-quality public charter 

5 schools. 

Æ 


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